Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 8 : Pressclippings, 1977-1981

Golden t AN EX I IIBITI O o f South American India n relics. so small it packs into a cou ple of ~uitca~c\, opened its Australian tour in Adelaide on Fcbrua ry 24. Its ~cveral hundred ::in– ·icnL object~ were made bdorc th Spanish con– quest in what is t d,1 the Republic of Colombia. They arc hwnblc i11 ~calc .,ml purJ)O\l', ritngin I rrrnn car (0 no,c-nn ,,. plllli 10 [X:tll\ l·nvcr,. 11111 they pack .t ce rtain punch. All but 20 arc m.idc of gold. Whal the jaJc suit wa, to la,1 year·~ (hmc,c bhib111on, a 28cm•h1gh d1aJcm uf high• grade h,11111mrcd gnld 1, 111 1h" year\ 'olornbwn G Id. Th" 1, nn archcolog1cal ~how. w11h ., difference. The /l u~trnl ian ,\ri r ,111 bi1ions Corpor:111011 ha•, bor– rowed 1hc cxh1b11in11, El IJtJ. rado olombian Gold. frnm the Musco del Oro ,n B gola. ii now has 1he rn,k of fulfilling e,– pccta1ions rai cd by its fir I success. While th(· Chine,e show led 1hc Federal Govern– ment 10 prolong 1he corpora- 1ion's life, so thai i1 could con– tinue bringing bi' ,irt cxhi• bi1ions 10 Aus1ralia, nil 1he corpor1ttion's runr'" are priv:IIL'. The govcrnmcn• ·cr1;.1inly Ill· clcmnifics 1hc exhibi1ions (,n 1his case for $2.7 million) b111 lhc priva1e spon,or pays for tht!rn. Whal Benson and Hedge~ wanls 10 ,cc for 1hc money it put in10 olo111bia11 Gold arc c111eues. and long ones. /Is Mobil discovered wi1h the hi– nesc Exhibi1ion. not everyone rcmcmbcp; the sponsor's name. 11,c corpor:111on has 10 fire 1hc public's i111agina1ion 1h1, second 1ime around. l.lul El Do• rado is nOI 1ha1son of show. 11 docs not gli11cr ,o much a, glow. The ancicnl Co lombians used gold like plaslicinc. Toy snakes, li11le men, birds, rnil, for car or no,c; they made things 10 please 1hem,elves. With impressive 1cchnic;1l skill. 1hey hammered whole ingo1s paper-1hin. and cas1 111- tricale srulp1urcs 1he size or lhimblcs. They p111 masked fig– ures, bells. and birds on 1op of pins. Each dccora1ive pin-head was individually casl. All have a personal touch. There 1s an effonlcss bcu111y 1hrougho111. Thi~reached a peak wi1h ob– jccls from Namm, one of \('\'en g lcl-work,ng areas illustrn1ed 111 ill(' nh1b111on. II, bnldcr. s1111plcr 111011[, - from "' h"·d jaguar hc,Hh. 10 end,. r;rd~,. or JU\I pl,un dl\C\ or hJlllllll'red g Id - .ire :11nong 1h · h1gh– l1glm. 1hcr fc.uun.•, of 1he d"pl.,y :1rc Lhc c:11aloguL", ~.1,), lit)(1Ut, and emphasis on cdue.11,on. "To gel 1he rno11from 1hc,c b,g c,hibi11on1 you need a 101 r in- By SUSAN NA SHORT 111xluctory m,llcnJI. nol nly [<1r ('h1ldrcn. l1t11 for aduh1," ,.ud Bronw) 11 Thoma 1, e, ·, U· me d1rec1or of 1hc wrpora11on. lJ11dcr her w,I\ ,I p1udul111>n lt!:llll or ~C\Cll, 1m .. lud111g .in •ducu11on cff,ccr. llcrn1t·c ~l11r· phy. When ,cnl to 'olomb,a. ,he 1pcn1 a mont h grappling w11h m.1p,. hl\lOry books, local geography .,nd cuhurc. "I re~ll\cd 1ha1 \IC 111 /l u,1r.1 ha arc 1110,1 ign rant of L11m America." She did 1101 w,1111 1he exh1b111on to be ,cc11 "·" ,11nply ., ,howof chic gold je\\dkry." Educa1ion ,hee1, . , itdc,. 111:ip~ and a v1dcu ta pc :1n.: .1v,11lable al each vc11uc. When ('(liombian ,old f1111, hcs in Adelaide n March 27. it w,11 1ravcl 10 1a1 gallcnc, 111 West • cm 1\u,1ralia. V1c1oria. Quecm· land and New Sou1h Wale,. 111 a1101her coun of 1he Art (;allcry of Sou1h Au>1 rahn i, a ,-rafl exhibi1 ion nf a tlifferc111 ,on. Ii would be hard w r111 1!11-i one in ~howL"a~cs. /111>1rJlian Crafts rcprem11s 1hc best of wha1 is being made 111 Aus1ralia t day. 11~ t 16 exhibi1,. many by yo11nu rraf1s people, cover wall. floor anti ,1a11ds wi1h "" ahand II nol u,11,,I for crafl. /I large cape i, spread-eagled on one wa ll. /I huge k1101 appea• to have been flung arrc 1he floor. On u swml sii, a giluccl madonna, wi1h a fuOt• ball 111 her hand. In bc1wccn arc po1'. Jcwdlcry. and a monu• nmn IO 1hc Holden car. "In 1hc past. 1hc criteria for palging good craftsmanship \'-'Crc accura cy . precision, [1111sh. and the abili1y 10 repro• duce works of the , arne like– ness," poin1cd o u1 Bern ard Sahm. who found 1hrcc broad groups in selecting for 1hc show. One has lO do wi1h 1hc 111a1eriuls used , ano1 her wi1h ba,ic design. A 1hird has 10 do wi1 h everything el,c. Oclonging to i1 i, 2!l-year-old Mark Thompson's mndon na. railed Buy Australian Maid. Of enamel, porccluin. lu>1rcs and gilt , she is a decadent and amu,ing comment on how the ar1b1 feels abou1 /lus1ralia. Turkcd into her rloak is a pair or foo1bull boo1>, and a1her fcc1 ,omc cans of beer. The k:ing– an.l<> standing on her football is 111adc of solid silver, and is a copy of one from 1hc t!lqo,. 11:ir ba r a Ree, walking c:me,. and Pandor.,· IJn, 20th l \ •n11iry I ,Ill) Stt1r~ .11 ..· m lht.! IC"cllcry ,cc·11on nf 11s1rah,m ('r,1f1,. It cm,:r!!e' \lrongly. IO~l'lhl.·r with Cl.'rJm11.,. Ikr h1ghl )lCf\OIIJI )llt'l'C\ or 1\nry. , 11\.l'r am.J gold .irl' ,tb,,, pr,11. lll\tl. The 1\1()~ ,er 11r111 nr 1hc box. on "h1ch " c.,rsnJ 1he r,lle or Ufriend . l',111 h..• 11,ed '" ,111 .,rmb,md nnc w.ilt..111, ,11,·k h,1•, .1 romp,1r1mcn1. Vi,1hlt: in– "d,· 11 " .1 shell. · 11111 11 " mterth,1ng,•,1hle." ,.11cl 11.irlw.,. JI I kr hi,, " .1 "1nbu1e 111 ., fem .de fnu1d "hn w,1, rathl•f 111-..c .1 bul tcrfh ," On 11, lid of """r .,re P'""~d b111- 1erfl) wm ·, ..,nt.! ., ,111.111 ph<,11>• graph ,,r hl'r r, 1e11d\ C)e. ·1he Craf1, Bu,ird of !he /I u\lraha Council h,I\ pur– ch.11cd 1110,1 of 1he ,. h1b111on wnh 1hc 1111en11on of .1dt.!1ng 10 11, alre.,tly t0n>1(kr.1bre rnlkc- 1:011 of craft, \\ Ort.. - ,,I ut 00 r1ece, \\ Orth S250,tl00 - but ha, no" here 10 hou,c 1hem. It " 1hercfnre apprn.1d11ng 1hc SW S1n1c vcrnment w11h a prnpma l lo tu rn Sydney's ()11t~n V1,·1ori.1 lludd111g m1u a nlU'iCtllll or the L!C'l'OrallH' art'\ .ind cr.1f1. rl1is c,h1b11ion (1f AllstrJli.1n Crafl, w1ll 1011r 1hc cap11al rn,e, afler do,ini; 111 Adcl:11de on ~tJrch 27. 11 will then 1r:1vel ,wersca, IO JI le;1>1 half a t.101.,·11 counme, m Eurq_rx:.